Sound pickup unit



April 13, 1948. w. c. EDDY SOUND PICKUP UNIT Filed Aug. 6, 1945 Patented Apr. 13, 1948 SOUND PICKUP UNIT William C. Eddy, Michigan City, Ind., assignor to Television Associates, Inc., Chicago, 111., .a corporation of Illinois Application August 6, 1945, Serial No. 609,173

2 Claims. (01. 181-28) This invention relates to sound pickup units and more particularly to such units for use as hearing aids.

Hearing .aids, employing electrical amplification, have long been known, including both those types in which the amplified vibrations are air born and in which bone conduction is employed to transmit the amplified vibrations to the hearing system. The present invention relates particularly to units of the bone conduction type which are easy and convenient to use and are inconspicuous in use.

Another object is to provide a sound pickup unit in which the sound vibrations are transmitted to the hearing system through the teeth of the user. Preferably, such units may be in the external form of smoking implements, such as pipes and cigarette or cigar holders so that they are easy and convenient to handle and are relatively inconspicuous.

Still another object is to provide a sound pickup unit in which the efficiency of sound transmission can easily be adjusted to vary the effective volume of the unit. In one preferred construction, the unit is formed of two parts connected by an adjustable joint whose adjustment varies the chiciency of sound transmission between the parts.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional view with parts in elevation illustrating one form of unit embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 of an alternative form.

The unit, as illustrated. in Figure 1, is made in the form of a smoking pipe to simulate'a con ventional pipe in appearance. The unit includes a two-part body comprising a bit part l adapted to be gripped between the teeth of the user and a bowl part II connected to the part H The bowl part II carries a sound responsive device I 2. This device may be similar to the usual sound transmitting device employed for bone conduction in which case it is connected to a microphone and amplifier unit it. If preferred, the device #2 may itself be a microphone which picks up and transmits the sound vibrations to the body part ll. In either case, the sound vibrations which are to be received are transmitted through the device l2 to the body part I l The body parts In and H are connected by an adjustable joint which is formed, as shown, by a cylindrical reduced extension M on the part i I. The part I0 is formed with a series of fingers i5 arranged annularly to fit around the extension M and to leave a space therebetween. A sleeve 56 of compressible material such as rubber, plastic compositions or the like fits between the extension M and the fingers 15 to form a part of the joint therebetween. It Willibe seen that the efficiency of sound transmission through the joint depends upon the degree of compression of the sleeve l6.

In order to vary the compression of the sleeve, the outer surfaces of the fingers I5 are conically tapered and are threaded to receive a tapered, threaded ring l1. As the ring is turned to move toward the larger ends of the fingers, it squeezes the fingers in upon the sleeve material it to compress it more tightly between the fingers and the extension M. In this way, the efficiency of sound transmission through the joint can be adjusted to vary the effective volume of the sound received by the user of the device.

In use, when the user desires to pick up sounds, he has only to grip the mouth piece part it] between his teeth and adjust the ring IT to produce the desired effective volume. Sounds picked up by the device Will be transmitted from the body part H through the joint and the mouth piece part It to the teeth of the user so ,that they will be audible to the user. By simply turning the ring H in one direction or the other to a relatively slight extent, the efiective volume of the sounds can be adjusted to suit diiierent conditions. Since the device simulates a conventional pipe, it is relatively inconspicuous in use while providing a highly eiiective sound pickup unit.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the unit is made up in the form of a cigarette holder including a mouth piece part 2| and an outer socket part 22 which may hold a conventional cigarette or the like indicated at 23. Within the socket part '22 is sound responsive device 24 similar to the device [2 of Figure l which is supported to induce vibrations in the socket part in response to the sounds to be picked up.

The parts are connected by a joint construction including a tapered extension 25 on the socket part 24 covered by a sleeve 26 of compressible material. A series of fingers 2'! on the mouth piece part fit around the sleeve 25 and are threaded and tapered on their outer surfaces to receive the adjusting ring 28. In this construction, due to the taper of the extension 25, adjustment of the j t m y be determined partly by the eXtent to which the extension 25 and the sleeve 26 thereon are forced into the space between the fingers and partly by adjustment of the threaded ring 21. Except for these specific difierences and for the differences in external appearance, the :unit of Figure 3 is substantially similar to that of Figur 1 and functions in the same manner.

While two embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that these are illustrative only and are not to be taken as a definition of the scop of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sound pickup unit comprising an elongated two part body whose parts are formed of hard vibrationtransmitting material, a sound responsive device carried by one of the parts to set up vibrations therein in response to sounds which are picked up, the other part being relatively long and thin and terminating in a bit to be gripped between the teeth of a user, the parts being formed with interfitting joint portions, compressible material between the joint portions, and adjustable means to vary the compression of the material.

2. A sound pickup unit comprising an elongated two part body whose parts are formed of hard vibration-transmitting material, a sound responterial.

VVILLIAM C. EDDY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 707,909 Durand Aug. 26, 1902 1,717,202 Gonce June 11, 1929 1,986,955 Bedell Jan. 8, 1935. 2,230,397 Abraham Feb. 4, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 336,088 Germany Apr. 23, 1921 337,713 Germany June 6, 1921 

